Save Article

The Case for Tactical U.S. Nukes

‘It’s best not to mess with us,’ Putin has said. ‘Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers.’

By

Matthew Kroenig

Jan. 24, 2018 6:26 p.m. ET

The Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review isn’t yet public, but it is already under political fire. After a draft of the document leaked last week, critics were horrified that it proposed the U.S. build “new” nuclear weapons. Some even suggested that a push to expand America’s nuclear capabilities is of a piece with President Trump’s reckless personality that risks getting us all killed in a nuclear war.

These criticisms are misguided. America’s nuclear weapons have underwritten international peace and stability for...